Offers Extended to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Class of 2028

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved for reasons unrelated to schools, from the Rocky Run to Pow Middle area. The Algebra class taught here is about a third of the syllabus and depth of what is being taught to students at our old school. No wonder our SOL scores are so low. There is a significant difference entering TJ from Rocky Run or Longfellow, which prepare students with solid middle school math and science to be successful at TJ if given an offer, versus coming from a lower-tier middle school like our current one through the 1.5% quota, and struggling miserably at TJ and likely returning to base school.

More than half of class gets inflated As, if no attendance issue. But majority fail SOL, only a quarter pass. [/quo

If this is real, TJ principal should step down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved for reasons unrelated to schools, from the Rocky Run to Pow Middle area. The Algebra class taught here is about a third of the syllabus and depth of what is being taught to students at our old school. No wonder our SOL scores are so low. There is a significant difference entering TJ from Rocky Run or Longfellow, which prepare students with solid middle school math and science to be successful at TJ if given an offer, versus coming from a lower-tier middle school like our current one through the 1.5% quota, and struggling miserably at TJ and likely returning to base school.

More than half of class gets inflated As, if no attendance issue. But majority fail SOL, only a quarter pass. [/quo

If this is real, TJ principal should step down.

If my understanding is correct, bottom-tier schools like Poe Middle are not teaching Algebra 1 with the same rigor as schools like Rocky Run. Students at Poe are given inflated A grades, and the poor learning is only revealed when SOL scores show failing grades. However, TJ admissions selects Algebra 1 students from Poe Middle, who then end up in remedial classes once admitted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved for reasons unrelated to schools, from the Rocky Run to Pow Middle area. The Algebra class taught here is about a third of the syllabus and depth of what is being taught to students at our old school. No wonder our SOL scores are so low. There is a significant difference entering TJ from Rocky Run or Longfellow, which prepare students with solid middle school math and science to be successful at TJ if given an offer, versus coming from a lower-tier middle school like our current one through the 1.5% quota, and struggling miserably at TJ and likely returning to base school.

More than half of class gets inflated As, if no attendance issue. But majority fail SOL, only a quarter pass.

Are you the same poster from that other thread attacking Poe? I have no idea where you're getting your data from or if you're just making numbers up on the spot. I think you used US News which has incorrect data. The Algebra 1 pass rate at Poe last year was was 83%. For reference, Lake Braddock's Algebra 1 pass rate was 89%. Straight from VDOE statistical reports for 2023.

Poe is 47% ELL and 57% FARMS, while LBSS Middle is 7% ELL and 21% FARMs. I'd say Poe is meeting expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved for reasons unrelated to schools, from the Rocky Run to Pow Middle area. The Algebra class taught here is about a third of the syllabus and depth of what is being taught to students at our old school. No wonder our SOL scores are so low. There is a significant difference entering TJ from Rocky Run or Longfellow, which prepare students with solid middle school math and science to be successful at TJ if given an offer, versus coming from a lower-tier middle school like our current one through the 1.5% quota, and struggling miserably at TJ and likely returning to base school.

More than half of class gets inflated As, if no attendance issue. But majority fail SOL, only a quarter pass.

Are you the same poster from that other thread attacking Poe? I have no idea where you're getting your data from or if you're just making numbers up on the spot. I think you used US News which has incorrect data. The Algebra 1 pass rate at Poe last year was was 83%. For reference, Lake Braddock's Algebra 1 pass rate was 89%. Straight from VDOE statistical reports for 2023.

Poe is 47% ELL and 57% FARMS, while LBSS Middle is 7% ELL and 21% FARMs. I'd say Poe is meeting expectations.

If not far exceeding them. That's an extremely impressive number under the circumstances.

For all that families like to talk about grit and determination, they seem not to have an appreciation for how difficult it is for students in challenging socioeconomic conditions to succeed in advanced academics without the additional support that comes from parents with extra resources in the form of time and money.

Give me a kid who overcomes a ton of adversity over a kid who was born on 99 not out and thinks they deserve all the credit for their century.

[Anonymous]

This kind of thinking is exactly how very strong middle class kids get overlooked. Rich kids get theirs, so now poor kids must get theirs. But middle class kids don't have either advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This kind of thinking is exactly how very strong middle class kids get overlooked. Rich kids get theirs, so now poor kids must get theirs. But middle class kids don't have either advantage.

PP. Honestly, you're not wrong about that. But the old admissions process was starting to become the same way by its favorability to paid opportunities.

It's also the way that kids who have diverse interests get overlooked, unfortunately. Or whose parents want them to be exposed to many different opportunities during their formative years, and not just to those that are STEM-related or that "will look good on a TJ admissions application".